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| WJEC exam body to re-mark some GCSE English exams after review | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Welsh exams board WJEC is to re-mark some of the new GCSE English exams taken in January after blaming one examiner for "unexpectedly low grades". | |
| The grades, which were issued earlier this month, left heads at secondary schools across Wales shocked. | |
| Following an internal review, the WJEC said all of the centres whose candidate's work was marked by the examiner have been informed. | |
| The review also found two papers were added up incorrectly. | The review also found two papers were added up incorrectly. |
| Gareth Pierce, the WJEC's chief executive, said: "We understand that this has been a distressing period for teachers and pupils alike. We hope that this review along with the Welsh government's fact finding exercise provides reassurance that we are collectively undertaking appropriate action to assess and remedy the situation. | |
| "WJEC remains firmly committed to supporting high standards of education to learners in Wales, delivering qualifications which are rigorous, fair and valued." | |
| The unit (or module) was part of the first Wales-only GCSE examinations, ordered after a split between Northern Ireland, England and Wales in 2012. | |
| There was shock and anger on 6 March at unexpected poor grades awarded to pupils who sat the new exam in January. | |
| Head teachers wrote to the Education Minister Huw Lewis saying the test results have eroded confidence in the examinations system. | |
| Following the outcry of the grades awarded, exam officials stressed that tougher requirements on accuracy in the new exam, and a much higher number of students taking the papers, could explain lower grades. | |
| But BBC Wales learnt that schools were assured 16 months ago by the Welsh government that pupils would not be disadvantaged by new English language GCSEs. | |
| As well as the internal review into marking, the exam board said schools and exam centres could still challenge individual results, using the traditional appeal route. | |
| The WJEC's review found the marking scheme was applied consistently in all but one of the cases reviewed. | |
| It said there were indications that the examiner's marking was slightly inconsistent and although there were no sizeable disparities a full re-mark of the examiner's work would take place. | |
| The centres whose candidates' work was marked by this examiner have already been informed. | |
| The review also identified an error in adding up the total marks on two candidate's papers, which WJEC has since corrected and communicated to the relevant centres. | |
| WJEC officials previously said they would be making more support available to schools preparing for the next round of exams in June. | |
| Measures include: |